Desperation
by AbaddontheDevourer
Summary: An answer to the Modern Sorcerer's A Helping Hand Challenge. Harry's name is drawn from the Goblet, and realizing that he is severely outclassed decides to summon someone capable of helping him. [One-Shot] Possible expansion depending on reviewer reception


Author's Note: Had to take a break from writing my other stories as my Muse was intoxicated. Decided to work on this which actually has a very good chance of being turned into a full length story.

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"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called, his voice echoing throughout the Great Hall.

Numbly he had gotten up and headed to the antechamber with the other champions. He was aware of the glares that the other students were shooting him, of the jeers and taunts that accompanied his every step. He had experienced it enough during the Chamber of Secret incident two years ago, and he was well aware of the mercurial nature of the sheeple that made up the Wizarding World.

It was in the antechamber that Bagman and Crouch confirmed his worst fears, he would have no choice but to compete in this ridiculous tournament or he would be stripped of his magic.

When he had arrived back at the Gryffindor Common Room he was greeted by mix feelings. On one hand were those who cheered for him, led by the infamous Weasley Twins who had tried to enter themselves to hilarious consequences. The other faction that thought he was lying and trying to hog all the glory was a minority in the House of the Brave, but it hurt him to see that it was led by his former friend Ron Weasley.

Weasley had tried to start something with him, calling him a glory hog, and attention seeker. When Harry ignored him the red headed ignoramus tried to punch him, only to get laid out by Harry who had years of experience fighting bullies.

 _People died during this tournament Harry._ The voice of his best friend, Hermione, told him. He knew that the competition was made for adult wizards and that for a fourth year student even one that had faced off dark creatures like he had would be ill prepared to compete.

As the party was winding down, he went to his dorm room and packed up all his things, and after shrinking his trunk and putting it in his pocket he headed back to the common room.

Catching the eye of his best friend he gestured towards the door, and walked out.

"Harry!" Hermione called. "It's after hours; we need to be back inside."

"Hermione." Harry called. She must've heard something in his voice as she stopped short of bringing him back in. "I'm scared, Mia."

She hugged him tightly rubbing a reassuring hand on his back. "We'll get through this tournament like we always have. Together."

"Together." Harry repeated. "Come with me."

Taking out his invisibility cloak he wrapped it around them before opening the Marauder's map.

A part of her was ashamed that it had taken so long to figure out where Harry was leading her, as she thought she had memorized all the ways possible to reach the library. Coming upon the locked double doors that barred entrance she asked, "Harry, what are we doing here?"

"Ever since Dumbledore announced the Tournament that first night, I had a feeling that I'd be dragged into it." Harry said, waving his wand in an intricate pattern. A shimmering wall appeared in front of the door.

"What is that?" She asked, mesmerized by the colors.

"A ward to prevent entry and to alert Madam Pince should someone fail to properly dismantle it." Harry answered. "I talked to Bill Weasley when he came to the Burrow, and he told me a few simple tricks every Curse-Breaker needs." Waving his wand once more, he began to dismantle the simple barrier. After a few minutes the entire thing collapsed in on itself, and he opened the double doors with a simple unlocking spell. "Knowing that I might get dragged into this, I began to prepare."

"Harry, this is the restricted section!" Hermione hissed, as her friend cast another spell to disarm the alert wards on the section.

"I know." He answered. "The book we need is behind this door."

"How do you know that?" She asked, startled when he laughed and waved his hand dismissively.

"Hermione you are without a doubt the smartest witch of our generation, but when it comes to exploring and combat magics even you have to admit that I surpass you." Harry said. "I've come here many times and browsed through the stacks."

He froze feeling her glare. Turning he saw the anger and betrayal as well as desire in her eyes. "You've had access to the library all this time and you haven't taken me?" She snarled.

He gulped. "I'm sorry." He stammered, flinching as she jabbed a finger into his chest.

"From now on you're taking me with you any time you decide to explore." She smiled threateningly.

"Of course." He promised, letting loose a whoop of excitement as the final barriers fell. He quickly dragged her over to a certain shelf and took a book off it. "We need to go now."

"But-"

"I know what you're going to say, and I promise that you can browse the stacks tomorrow night, but for now I need your help."

"Fine." She sighed, letting him lead her to another part of the castle. Seeing the familiar looking bathroom a feeling of dread shot down her spine. "Harry is this?"

"It is." He said. _§Open§_

The sinks moved to reveal a gaping abyss, the entrance to the infamous Chamber of the Secrets. _§Stairs§_

A grinding sound, stone on stone echoed through the room as stairs slowly began to appear. Leading Hermione down into the central chamber, twice calling for the doors to open, he steeled his resolve.

"Harry?" She asked hesitantly. "When you said you needed my help, you didn't mean as a sacrifice right?"

"Don't be silly." He scoffed. "If I needed a virgin sacrifice I would've brought Ron with us. Merlin knows that his wife would need to be blind to not be disgusted by his eating habits."

Hermione couldn't help but giggle, as Harry put the book down on the floor, and knelt next to it. "So why are we here?"

"I told you how I was afraid that I might get dragged into this competition." He said, and after seeing her nod continued. "People a lot more experienced and prepared have died in this competition. What hope can an underage wizard, a fourth year student have in a competition like this."

"But Dumbledore said that there would be safety measures in place."

"I'm not exactly trusting of the old man's word right now." Harry explained. "Especially since he has continually stated that Hogwarts is perfectly safe, and I've almost died no less than three times so far."

Hermione had no response to that seeing as she had been there during each one of those encounters. "So why do you need this book?" He smiled and motioned for her to knees next to him.

"One night I was browsing through the stacks looking for a way to augment my magic." Harry began. "When all of a sudden this book fell on my head."

"Seriously." Hermione deadpanned.

"Dead serious." He nodded, stroking the cover. "The Truth of the Alaya by Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg."

"Alaya?"

"According to the author Alaya is the sentient entity that governs the World. It is the collective unconsciousness of mankind, the drive for survival. It seeks to prevent mankind's extinction normally by indirectly guiding and empowering certain individuals to eliminate a threat."

"And when that fails?"

He shuddered remembering what he had read. "Then Alaya deploys something called the Beasts of Alaya, forces beyond our power that not only eliminate the threat but eliminate everything with all the precision of a sledgehammer."

"What does the book have to do with the Tournament?" Hermione asked.

"In it the author goes into great detail about how certain people normally heroes after dying are removed from the cycle of rebirth in order to ascend and become heroic spirits. These heroic spirits have achieved great deeds in life and have become objects of worship after their death."

"Like Merlin!?" Hermione cried triumphantly

"Exactly!" He exclaimed. "Anyway after they die they are moved to an area called the Throne of Heroes which is a metaphysical place that exists outside of time. Each of these Heroic Spirits is a unique existence who possesses qualities that no one else has possessed."

Opening the book up he skimmed through it until he found a certain chapter. From her spot she could see the title. **The Summoning and Binding of Heroic Spirits.** "Harry! Summoning Rituals are illegal!"

"Only demon summoning rituals." He reassured. "And even then I'm protected against prosecution due to the rules put in place to protect the Champions."

"Still, what we're doing is immoral, not to mention something that we really shouldn't be dabbling in."

"What choice do I have!" He snarled. "I'm seriously outmatched right now. Krum has a large repertoire of spells, not to mention Durmstrang teaches their students the Dark Arts. Not just the British system of Dark Arts which doesn't discriminate against Grey and Dark, but the real Dark Arts. Stuff that you wouldn't dream of in your worst nightmares, spells that make the Unforgivables look tame. Delacour from what I could find out is a Charms prodigy and that's saying something considering Beauxbatons has been putting out the best charms masters in the past two centuries. And Diggory…well I'm not too sure but he's a seventh year so he probably knows more than I do."

"Still, you know all the stories that they've told us. Summoning is never the way to go."

"It's the only way now." He said determinedly. "Even with any training you give me there's no way that I can catch up to the other competitors. At this point winning isn't even a possibility, Hell I'd settle for being able to make it to the winner's podium alive."

She was silent. The only sound in the chamber being the steady dripping of water, and the rustling of pages as Harry read through the book. After a few minutes she made her decision. "What do we need to do?"

He smiled as he rummaged in his pockets. "What we're doing isn't summoning a True Heroic Spirit with all their powers, as that's impossible. Instead we're going to summon the spirit's essence and use me as a temporary vessel to house it."

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" She demanded freezing. "YOU WANT TO HOUSE THE SPIRIT WITHIN YOU?"

"That's what I said." Harry said tiredly rubbing his head. "This way I'll take on aspects of the Heroic Spirit, including increased strength endurance, agility, etc."

"This is a bad idea." Hermione warned, looking over the formalcraft circle inscribed in the book.

"I have no choice but to do this if I want to survive." Harry sighed, pulling out a piece of chalk. He first began by drawing a large unbroken circle which would determine the area of the spell. A second circle was inscribed within, followed by a third circle like shape that had semi-circles at north, south, east and west. After the three circle like shapes were done he placed a fourth inside followed by drawing a star. At the north-west, north-east, south-west, and south-east position he drew another set of circles. Within the star was another circle followed by a shape that looked like a crescent moon connected to another circle with a different diameter. Now that, that was all completed he began writing down the runes required, tweaking them in accordance with the book.

"What am I doing here." Hermione asked.

"You're here as an observer, and just in case things go badly." Harry said stepping into the circle that acted as a boundary for the star. "Here we go."

"Good luck." Hermione wished, stepping back away from the blast zone. The outer circle should protect her and trap any magical emissions, but she wasn't taking any chances as she took cover behind a pillar.

Clearing his throat he cut his palm and began to recite the necessary chant. "Heed my words! My words creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. Heeding the Call of Prophecy, obey my will and reason, answer my summoning. I hereby swear to embody all the good in the world, that I shall defeat all evil in the world, and let thing eyes be clouded with the fog or turmoil and chaos. Thou who art trapped in a cage of madness, and I the summoner who holds thine chains. Seventh heaven clad in the great words of power, come forth to this circle of binding, Guardian of scales."

The circle lit up at his words, flooding with enormous amounts of power, draining him at a rapid pace. He could feel every one of his nerves burning as his veins feeling like his blood had been replaced with molten metals. The pain was excruciating, driving him to his knees. In a distant part of his mind he could hear Hermione calling out to him, only to be rebuffed as the circle wouldn't allow her to come closer.

In the haze that blanketed his mind he saw a figure, whether it was male or female he didn't know, shrouded in mist. "Magus, ye who dares to intrude upon my domain. Realize the price that your arrogance has enacted, and know that only prophecy protects you from my wrath. Do not try to reach this place again, or even that will not protect you from me." Saying that the figure thrust their hand into his chest and ripped out a sliver of golden light. He cried out in pain as the figure continued to speak. "Know that you belong to me from now on."

The figure faded, only to be replaced by another one. Once more everything about the figure was hidden, and the only way he could differentiate between the two was the voice.

A feminine one that boasted power and wisdom spoke to him. "Abiding the summons to form a contract with the blessings of the World. I ask of thee, Art thou my Master?"

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Please read and review. Tell me who you think the first spirit is, and who do you think the Servant that Harry summoned is.

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 **Challenge Information**

When his name is pulled from the Goblet of Fire and he is forced to compete, Harry Potter doesn't mess around. He knows he isn't qualified or powerful enough to survive this Tournament on his own, so using a handy little book found in the library, Harry performs an ancient ritual to call for a helping hand. He really should have read the fine print first.

 **Requirements:** Possessed Harry.

The Spirit that Harry summons must take residence in his body to help him win the Tournament – _and then it gets stuck_.

Despite being possessed, it's still _Harry_ that competes in the Three Tasks.

Harry and the Spirit must have conflicting moralities/alignments at first _(e.g. Light vs Dark, Order vs Chaos)_.

In an utterly cliché way, while the Spirit teaches Harry something, Harry in turn teaches the Spirit things.

 **Morality:** Any.

 **Pairing:** Any.

 **Forbidden:** The Spirit completely taking over.

The Spirit being exorcized.

Weak Harry.

 **Suggestions:** Crossovers.

Dark Lord Harry.

The Spirit manifests only for Harry to see, but is invisible to other people.


End file.
